Our Presenters
ANDY MARRIOTT
WEEKDAYS 7.0
SATURDAY 6 PM
I think I qualify as a veteran broadcaster, having been on the radio and TV since the age of 20 in 1981.
My career began as a dog’s body at BBC Radio Lincolnshire, joining Radio Trent and Leicester Sound in 1984, moving to the oldies station GEM AM.
I also had a parallel career in TV as one of the main announcers on Central TV in the Midlands on weekdays and for London Weekend Television.
I retired from TV in 2002 and popped up at Saga Radio. Once again corporate nonsense got in the way of great radio and I left. Quality radio with mature professional presenters and the greatest music ever recorded was a thing of the past, until now!
DICK FISHER
WEEKDAYS 10.0
And thanks to Andy Marriott and Serenade Radio, here we go again. I now have the chance to play and enjoy the music I grew up with. Music that first became familiar as I played the discs until almost worn out on our old gramophone player in the front room almost seventy years ago.
Back on the airwaves, Serenade Radio feels like home. I am working with highly talented people, some of whom I never met, but looked up to as true professionals in the broadcasting world.
JOHN DARVALL
WEEKDAYS 3.0
In the last two decades, I have been everywhere as a broadcaster and voiceover artist. I’ve explained the delights of Gatwick Airport on its transit train and described the shops in lifts in UK and Dubai shopping centres, been the voice of three national TV stations and for BFBS TV around the world.
My first love is radio. From 2002, I’ve hosted all manner of programmes for the BBC, and continue today.
I love the intimacy of radio and of music radio, the way it used to be – with real songs from artists and composers. I have interviewed many great names for the world of music but my two favourites have to be Andy Williams and the great Tony Bennett.
KEVIN TAYLOR
WEEKENDS 9.0 PM
Greetings from Palm Springs, California!
I am honoured to be part of the Serenade Radio family and this legendary music. It is a thrill for me to bring my show to listeners from the Playground of the Stars. Many of the artists you hear on Serenade Radio had homes here in the desert which makes this a very special experience for me.
A native of Palm Springs, California, I grew up in San Diego and later returned to the warm breezes of this desert paradise. I’ve been very fortunate during my radio career to have worked at two heritage stations, one in San Diego and the other here in Palm Springs. I’ve had the privilege of sharing this wonderful music with a wide audience and love keeping it alive for all generations to hear.
ROGER WILLIAMS
SATURDAY 7.0 PM
SUNDAY 7.0 PM
MONDAY 9.0 PM
I grew up in Plymouth where my fascination with radio began. If I’d been a little braver I might have run away to sea to join the Pirates but as it was the first radio station to put me behind a microphone was WCHS Charleston West Virginia, where I wandered in off the street with my English accent and Liverpool connections and that seemed to do the trick.
I’ve splashed about in the shallow end of radio for many years – and it’s real honour to have been asked to join such a fine band of broadcasters here at Serenade Radio.
On Sunday nights at 7.00 I present “Soft Folkus” through which I explore my 60 year passion for folk music which started for me with Peter, Paul and Mary and The Kingston Trio and continues to this day with the best of our present day writers and singers. And if you tune in on Saturday and Monday nights I explore the wonderful music of The Dance Band Days.
Outside radio, I play in folk-rock band “The Strawberry Jammers” and I sing with champion a cappella group “Pitch and Mix” Life is never dull!
STUART LINNELL
SATURDAY 1.0 PM
SUNDAY 1.0 AM
My love affair with radio began when I was given a crystal set as a Christmas present. I would listen each night – long after I was supposed to be asleep – to Radio Luxembourg and the BBC Light Programme.
In my teens, I became a volunteer at hospital radio in Birmingham, so joining the team at Serenade, where everyone gives freely of their time for the sheer love of the music and the medium, means my career has come full circle.
Along the way, over more than 50 years, I have worked in radio and TV in the UK and Ireland. My career has included sports, politics and news programmes, but the fun and pleasure of playing music has always been a great joy.
Sharing the music that great composers and artists have taken such time to craft and record is what Serenade Radio is all about. The Great American Songbook is a particular personal favourite, featuring songs written by the likes of George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Johnny Mercer, and recorded by stars such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat “King” Cole and Tony Bennett. At the weekend on Serenade Radio you can join me to delight in those great singers with great songs.
PETER TOMLINSON
SUNDAY 3.0 PM
MONDAY 3.0 AM
My experience in radio is mainly limited to running a radio station. Being front of house so to speak is a relatively new experience, but at long last I am part of a group of great presenters bringing to you the sounds I would love to have presided over in the banal world of commercial radio. In my dotage I can at last relax, listen to, and present the music which has truly been the most formative, enjoyable, evocative and meaningful of my life. Serenade Radio, my life, my music!
TRISH BERTRAM
WEEKEND ANNOUNCER
Having blagged my way in with no background in ‘meeja’ whatsoever but a lot of naive confidence, I was lucky enough to start my broadcasting career with the, sadly no longer, London Weekend Television back in the 80s.
By the time I finished live TV announcing in 2008, I was the longest serving female TV announcer in the UK, having said ‘coming up next’ for LWT, ITV, Channel 5, BBC World, BSB Galaxy, Super Channel, TVS, West Country and The Family Channel. I’ve also been been a ‘station voice’ for many radio stations across the UK.
I work on live events too and was the live Announcer for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar; the London 2012 Olympics & Paralympics and more recently the First European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan.
DAVID YARNALL
WEEKDAYS 1.0
I was born at a very early age in 1950 and 27 years later at the age of 27 (I was always good at maths) I decided to dabble in broadcasting after being influenced by Noel Edmonds when he was The Breakfast Show presenter on BBC Radio 1 – yes, I was once young enough to listen to R1 and know what they were playing!
In 1977 I joined Hospital Radio Stafford where I probably caused many a relapse, and then in 1979 I had my big break and joined Beacon Radio in Wolverhampton. For the next five years, I also annoyed other parts of the West Midlands via Mercia Sound and BBC Radio Stoke until in 1984 I was dragged kicking and screaming into the studio of BBC Radio 2 in Broadcasting House, London, where the whole nation and beyond had to endure me on The Weekend Early Show.
When Saga launched a station for the West Midlands I was invited to join the team and worked alongside Peter Tomlinson, Brian Savin, John Darvall, Jane Markham and Andy Marriott. You may have heard of one or two of them! Eventually Saga morphed into Smooth Radio and all things changed (we all left!).
At that point in 2004 I was quite determined never to broadcast again as I’d done all I wanted to do, but then I discovered Serenade Radio. Radio like it used to be in the good old days before the marketing men and accountants took hold!
I’ll be here every weekday between 1 and 3 with a couple of hours of relaxing music, and it’d be nice to have your company.
SIMON McLEAN
WEEKDAYS 12.0
SATURDAY 8.0 PM
In 2001, I presented a short business report for my local commercial radio station – little realising this would be the start of a glittering career that would see me working as a newsreader and presenter in exotic and glamorous locations like Basingstoke, Guildford and Ipswich.
One ambition was left unfulfilled. Years of crawling around the floors of charity shops to find the records had left me with two things; dodgy knees and a love of instrumental music. My record collection was filled with names like James Last, Percy Faith, Ronnie Aldrich (with his two pianos) and many others who may not be as well known, but are equally talented. I wanted to do a show that featured the music I was passionate about – and then came Serenade Radio.
The first Dinner At Eight went out on day one of Serenade Radio, and I’ve been very proud to be part of it.
ADRIAN JACKSON
SATURDAY 6.0 PM
Adrian’s career in music and theatre has spanned over four decades. He started his career as a musician and received a predominantly classical musical training. Internationally, he has conducted many renowned orchestras including: Orchestra of Scottish Opera, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hallé Orchestra; he is also the musical director and principal conductor of the acclaimed City Concert Orchestra.
His theatre credits are numerous, and he is a Producer and Artistic Director in his own right, being responsible for many productions and concerts in venues throughout the UK and internationally. Adrian is currently the Director of a major UK theatre, whilst also continuing to enjoy his musical career.
On radio, Adrian presented the popular weekly musical theatre programme on Saga 105.7FM, which ran for four years, and he presented Friday night Live at Smooth Radio.
MARK STEYN
SATURDAY 5 PM
SUNDAY 5 AM
SUNDAY 5.30 PM
MONDAY 5.30 AM
THURSDAY 9.0 PM
I’ve been in broadcasting, somewhat fitfully, since my debut in the “Young DJ” slot on Capital Radio’s children’s show “Hullabaloo” at the age of fourteen. These days I live in remote rural northern New Hampshire, which is very beautiful but a bit sparse on the musical front. So it is a thrill to be part of such a fantastic radio station from thousands of miles away. These are the songs I have always loved, with glorious melodies and well-crafted lyrics. I’ve written a couple of books on the subject, and had the privilege of knowing many of the men and women from that golden generation who wrote the Serenade playlist. And, as someone who once hosted a fairly appalling musical quiz show on Radio Two without ever really making it at that station, it is a great honour to follow “Sing Something Simple” every Sunday.
VIC GROVES
SUNDAY 12.0 PM
MONDAY 12.0 AM
I began broadcasting in 1980, presenting programmes for various hospital radio stations, and later I was put in charge of recruiting and training presenters for Bolton FM, a community radio station.
Having spent most of my life in London, I now live in Lancashire, with my wife and our dog Lettie.
My musical interests began with Rock and Roll and most other music from the 1950s. From there I went back in time, enjoying country and western music of the 1940s and 1950s, leading to big bands and crooners of the 1930s and 1940s, and then to dance bands from the UK and USA from the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Who knows where next!!
In the programme “The Melody Lingers On” I bring you familiar music to enjoy and perhaps reminisce to, and some music you haven’t heard for a long time or perhaps never heard before.
All whilst you recover from Sunday lunch, or burn the midnight oil on Monday morning.
CINDY KENT
SATURDAY 3.0 PM
SUNDAY 3.0 AM
Cindy used to perform with Birmingham-based folk band The Settlers, who recorded the familiar theme from TV’s Follyfoot.
Since leaving the band in 1973, Cindy has enjoyed an extraordinarily eclectic career. – working for the BBC, LBC, Capital and Premier Christian Radio, and – since 2008 – has been an ordained priest: the Rev. Cindy Kent MBE!
Now you can hear Cindy on Serenade (that’s got a nice ring to it!) every Saturday afternoon.
JOHN WALTON
BOXING DAY 9.0 AM
DECEMBER 27 th 6.0 PM
NEW YEAR’S DAY 7-9 PM
SATURDAY 12.0 PM
SUNDAY 12.0 AM
I suppose I think of myself as predominantly a singer and songwriter, but I’ve had a go at numerous other roles without having a ‘career’ in any of them – e.g. corporate and educational video producer; youth theatre director; writer of musicals; radio actor; radio presenter; voice artist; drama tutor; media lecturer; NVQ standards writer. Always found it hard to stick to one path but at least I was rarely out of work!
My initiation at Serenade Radio began in 2017 with seventy or eighty weekly editions of ‘The Crooners Club’. I went on to produce and present the Sunday lunchtime programme ‘Music Cavalcade’. More recently, I’ve been privileged to work with producer Neil Anthony in delivering ‘New Voices’, of which a second 13-week series is in the pipeline for 2025. What a fulfilling enterprise Serenade Radio is!
Those ‘jollyrobins’ never stopped frolicking in my head, Dad, and now, well into my dotage, I’m still ‘creating’ stuff in the sure knowledge that an intrepid archaeologist, 300 years hence, will come across a fragment of my work and shout ‘Eureka!’ (Actually, any word would do!)
JANE MARKHAM
WEEKDAYS 6.0 PM
SUNDAY 10.0 AM
When I won a cup for verse speaking at the age of 8 I had no idea that my voice would be my fortune! It depends how you define ‘fortune’ but in the last 20 years or so my voice has taken me from newsreading at Newsbeat to presenting at Classic FM, from voicing radio commercials to reading audio books.
STEVE JAMES
WEEKENDS 7.30 AM
SATURDAY 11.0 PM
It all started at an early age- mesmerised as a toddler by the family’s reel-to-reel tape recorder whose spools unwound the sounds of Bert Kaempfert with his plunky basslines, jazzy Ella Fitzgerald and Petula Clark with her mysterious plea about not sleeping in the subway darling.
These were among many musical delights illicitly recorded from the Light Programme whilst Auntie BBC had her back turned.
Fast-forward to the mid-1990s revival of interest in ‘lounge music’ and I found myself writing regular pieces in Record Collector magazine on the subject. Now, it’s a delight to be able to play the very best.
JOHN McATASNEY
SATURDAY 3.0 AM
‘Johnny Mac’ has been involved in radio for nearly 40 years. Originally from Co Armagh in Ireland, he’s worked in hospital, pirate, community and commercial radio. Johnny was brought up with the ‘wireless’ as a regular fixture, and on a heady mix of crooners, divas, classic instrumentals and easy listening standards. His radio heroes were Terry Wogan, Alan ‘Fluff’ Freeman and Gay Byrne – an Irish broadcasting legend.
Johnny now broadcasts from, as he puts it, ‘a cubby hole’ in Liverpool, and presents A Little Night Music 3-6am Saturdays here on Serenade Radio.
CHRIS HELME
FRIDAY 9.0 PM
Chris was a policeman, well known on the beat for many years, now retired and working hard as a Lecturer on brass bands on various cruise ships,
He has been involved in brass bands for over 60 years as a player and administrator he also wrote a weekly nostalgia column in his local Brighouse newspaper for 30 years.
Presenter of many brass band shows over the years he is now bringing his vast experience and knowledge of brass bands to Serenade Radio.
JOHN HELLINGS
SUNDAY 11.0 PM
WEDNESDAY 9.0 PM
My love of jazz goes back to even before my teenage years. It continued, even defying and aunt’s prediction that I would ‘grow out of it’. I never have. I wanted to be involved in radio ever since I was very young but opportunities to work in radio didn’t come along very often. So when one did, it was a chance I had to take! I suppose I ran away to join the circus! Since then I have presented programmes across the board but whenever there was the chance to play jazz, I was at the front of the queue. Now, with a large personal collection of jazz tracks on all kinds of media, from 78s to LPs to CDs and even downloads all just waiting to be shared, playing them on Serenade Radio is a must. I have presented jazz shows on radio for nearly 40 years – and it’s still enjoyable fun.
JOHNNY BEERLING
SUNDAY 6.0 PM
TUESDAY 9.0 PM
In my days as a young BBC Light Programme producer, little did I imagine that more than 50 years later, I’d be part of something akin to Serenade Radio.
I went on to be Controller of Radio 1, with its weekly audience of 19m – and even conceived the famous Radio 1 roadshow. My book ‘Radio 1-The Inside Scene’ tells of its story.
Now, life turns full circle and I’m on Serenade Radio each week, playing the music I truly love in my Big Band Special – revelling in the likes of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Ted Heath.
SEAN USHER
SATURDAY 1.0 AM
My first foray into radio was back in 1977 when I read my first voice-over which was for Radio Luxembourg.
To hear the advert I went out every evening driving around in my Austin A35 trying to hear what I sounded like on the radio!! I then did voice-overs on Capital Radio and LBC.
When commercial radio came to my local area – Guildford, I applied to work on County Sound without success. But then I bumped into one of the presenters at a party and he invited me to come and work as a producer on his morning show. (For free of course). I loved booking the guests and choosing the music, but I really wanted to be a presenter.
After 18 months I finally got my wish – The overnight show, much like I am doing now in the early hours of Saturday on Serenade Radio.
After a few years a change of career…Sailing the 7 seas as an entertainments officer. Then after 4 years of real fun travelling the world I opened a couple of restaurants which were successful, but in the end it was all hard work, so I decided on a change of career to website design, which I continue to do on a small scale.
But now I am back doing what I really love – Radio. I hope you’ll join me one of these nights.
STEVE ASHLEY
THURSDAY 9.30 PM
My radio career began in 1991 on KPCC, a public radio station in Pasadena, California, with a weekly hour of theatre pipe entertainment. What fun that was!
In 1995, I returned to London with my new wife, a professional mezzo-contralto, before moving again in 2004 to Almeria, Spain. It was there that I hatched the idea for a vintage jazz era programme on the local Brit station.
During that time, Hot Pipes was born, airing a very under-represented musical niche with a wide variety of tracks from far and wide. I now spend most of my free time restoring music, and CD mastering, while also keeping a hand in my career skills – photography and graphics.